Champions League

Aragonés was out of order but we'll shake hands, says Wenger

Luis Aragonés is known as the Wise Man of Hortaleza but it is doubtful that the Arsenal manager, Arsène Wenger, considers him in such deferential terms. It is four years since Aragonés, the Fenerbahçe coach who was then in charge of Spain, sparked a diplomatic incident with his bizarre attempt to motivate the striker José Antonio Reyes (with Arsenal at the time) for an upcoming international fixture.

His words continue to influence British public opinion against him. "Tell that black shit [Thierry Henry, Reyes' then Arsenal team-mate] that you are much better than him," growled Aragonés, to a somewhat startled-looking Reyes in full view and recording distance of Spanish television cameras. "Don't hold back, tell him, tell him from me. You have to believe in yourself. You are better than that black shit."

Wenger was appalled. "I find that sentence completely out of order and non-motivational to Reyes," he said, and as he prepared to take on Aragonés at the Sukru Saracoglu stadium, in Champions League Group G, it was clear that, like Henry, he might have forgiven but he has not necessarily forgotten. No extra spice will be required tonight at a ground in which a frenzied atmosphere is standard, but Wenger chose his words carefully when the sub-plot of Aragonés was raised.

"Will I shake hands with him? Why not," said Wenger, who has not spoken to Aragonés since the Reyes flashpoint, even though the Arsenal midfielder Cesc Fabregas played in his Spain team. "He is not a racist, I have that information. Samuel Eto'o [the Barcelona striker] came out and said that he had him as a coach and that he was not racist at all. I think he wanted to motivate Reyes during the training session but it was a very clumsy sentence."

England took on Spain in a friendly at the Bernabeu stadium in November 2004, shortly after the Aragonés controversy, and the black players were subjected to racist cat-calls. The unsavoury climate prompted Henry, who is now at Barcelona, and the Manchester United and England defender Rio Ferdinand to found the Stand Up, Speak Up anti-racism campaign. The issue is back in the spotlight as England are scheduled to play Spain in an away friendly next February, with the Football Association saying that they do not want the game to take place in Madrid.

"Everybody is responsible for his own behaviour and if you are a public man, you have maybe more responsibilities but what happened during that game between Spain and England was not the only time it happened in Madrid," said Wenger. "It happened in other circumstances where Aragonés was not involved so it looks to be a deeper problem.

"What I was more sorry about after was the attitude of the Spanish Football Federation [who reluctantly fined Aragonés €3,000]. I put the incident on Aragonés' side as regrettable but the Spanish Football Federation didn't act strongly enough."

Aragonés took the Fenerbahçe job after leading Spain to victory in the European Championship in the summer and he has inherited a team laced with Brazilian flair. Roberto Carlos is the most recognisable name but the creative midfielder Alex is the most potent. Then there is the crowd. Wenger has never before taken a team to Turkey but he knows what to expect.

"It will be extremely hostile but if we play well, we can silence the fans," said the Frenchman, who will field an unfamiliar back four because of injuries to the captain William Gallas, Kolo Touré and Bacary Sagna. "I'm not worried about my defence. We have to play, to dictate our game. We don't have a team that is built to defend. We have a team that attacks."

Arsenal are set fair for swift progress into the knockout phase, after a 1-1 draw at Dynamo Kiev and a 4-0 home win over Porto and Wenger believes that a win tonight would put them in a "very comfortable" position.

"Three points and we are virtually through," he said. "I want to qualify as quickly as possible and I still feel we can win the Premier League and the Champions League. I will do everything I can to achieve that."

About this article

Champions League: Luis Aragonés was out of order but we'll shake hands, says Arsene Wenger

This article appeared on p4 of the Sport section of the Guardian
on Monday 20 October 2008.
It was published on
the Guardian website
at 19.01 EDT on Monday 20 October 2008.
It was last modified at 19.06 EDT on Monday 20 October 2008.
It was first published at 19.06 EDT on Monday 20 October 2008.